His Resting Place Shall Be Glorious: A Short Excerpt for Advent

It’s now officially Christmas season. For many, this is also the time of Advent—the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas—and the arrival of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Advent is often a signal, or reminder, that Christmas is coming and that the season is about more than just giving and receiving presents. It’s a time to remember and reflect on what matters to us most; faith and family.

Monday: Isaiah 11:1–10 (Part 2)

And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him—
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a spirit of counsel and might,
a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
And his breath is in the fear of Yahweh.
And he shall judge not by his eyesight,
and he shall rebuke not by what he hears with his ears.
But he shall judge the poor with righteousness,
and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude.
And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.
And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
And a wolf shall stay with a lamb,
and a leopard shall lie down with a kid,
and a calf and a lion and a fatling together
as a small boy leads them.
And a cow and a bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together.
And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle.
And an infant shall play over a serpent’s hole,
and a toddler shall put his hand on a viper’s hole.
They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh,
as the waters cover the sea.
And this shall happen on that day:
the nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse,
which shall be standing as a signal to the peoples,
and his resting place shall be glorious.

Discussion Questions

1. What did we learn about the Messiah from Isaiah 11:1–5?

Response: Verse 1 indicated that the Messiah will come from King David’s family line. Verses 2–5 listed many things—among them the idea that the Messiah will be a righteous judge of the poor and a fair advocate for the needy. See response two from Sunday’s reading for more background.

Isaiah 11:6–9 describes animals and people, but they are put together in pairs that don’t make much sense.

2. What are the pairs mentioned? And what is the overall point of these verses?

Response: The pairs mentioned are:

A wolf and a lamb (v. 6)

A leopard and a kid (baby goat) (v. 6)

A calf, a lion, and a “fatling” (young bull) as a group, with a young boy leading them (v. 6)

A cow and a bear, along with their offspring (v. 7)

A lion eating straw like a cow (v. 7)

An infant playing by a nest of snakes (v. 8)

A toddler playing by a nest of snakes (v. 8)

These pairs would normally fear each other. Wolves attack lambs, leopards make meals of young goats, and lions and livestock don’t coexist peacefully. Lions do not eat straw, and no right-minded parent would let their young children play by snakes. But these verses are talking about a future time, when the Messiah has come, and all of these relationships have been turned on their heads. It describes a time of unparalleled peace, not of enmity or mistrust or hatred.

3. How does this relate to our anticipation of Christ’s return?

Response: We live in times marked by sin and its effects. It oozes into every part of our actions and thoughts and affects how we all interact with each other. When Christ returns, he will remove sin’s hold on us, and God will look on us through the eyes of Christ. How incredible that will be! And how can we not look to that time with anticipation?